2nd January, 2012
The Ministry of Finance, India, with the idea of granting quick and automatic refund of Service Tax to exporters, has announced a new scheme to expedite the process. Earlier this year, the Finance Minister had stated that a new scheme on the lines of drawback would be placed to speed up refunds.
Refund of Service Tax relating to services availed by the exporters while manu...

30th December, 2011
Nestle fortified its rights to use a red mug signifying coffee following the decision of the Delhi High Court earlier this month. The issue revolved around Nestle’s copyright to the red mug with a golden line and its subsequent trademark registration.
The defendants claimed that copyright in respect of the red mug also showing black coffee being poured into it with fro...

30th December, 2011
The World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) appellate body, in its report circulated on 21st December, 2011, has held that the excise tax on distilled spirits, as prevalent in Philippines, whereby lower rates of tax were prescribed for spirits manufactured from specified raw materials and a higher rate when non-designated raw materials were used, is discriminatory.
The Appella...

30th December, 2011
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has decided to launch a suo motu investigation on whether the petroleum ministry and state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) had colluded to depress prices paid to bio-diesel companies. Bio-diesel companies cannot sell their products in open market and have to sell it to the OMCs at prices fixed by them.
Earlier, the Director G...

26th December, 2011
A report published by World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) on 20th December, 2011 records significant growth in patent filing for 2010. Patent and trademark filings grew by 7.2% and 11.8% respectively in 2010 compared to growth of 5.1% in the global gross domestic product (GDP). China and the United States (US) have accounted for the greatest share of the increa...

22nd December, 2011
The Unlisted Public Companies (Preferential Allotment) Rules, 2003 have been amended by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs by a notification dated 14th December, 2011. As per the notification, the definition of preferential allotment has been amended to cover any other instrument convertible into shares on preferential basis. It will also cover hybrid instruments as per the...

15th December, 2011
Gene patents have seen massive litigation and opposing views from the IP community and companies on the one hand and researchers and general public on the other. The Australian government recently refused to consider a ban on patenting of genetic material. However, ruling against the copyrightability of DNA sequences the Delhi High Court recently vacated an ex-parte injun...

14th December, 2011
The Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN) Bill is the third in a series of bills which seek to effectively tackle the problem of on-line infringement. The US Congress has already been debating on two bills Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) Bill and the PROTECT (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2...

14th December, 2011
Recently, the United Kingdom released the draft of the proposed legislation on ‘Patent box’ – a scheme of tax incentives to corporates to domicile in UK and exploit their patents in UK. The objective is to encourage setting up of manufacturing facilities in UK and creation of jobs. Set to come into effect in 2013 on passage, the Bill provides for taxation of profits attr...

14th December, 2011
The Reserve Bank of India has, on 13th December, 2011, delegated its powers of compounding of FEMA contraventions, to its Regional offices/branches. RBI’s Circular No. 57, cites customer service and operational convenience as reasons for such delegation.
As per the latest amendments, for delay in reporting of inward remittance and for delay in filing of form FC-GPR aft...

14th December, 2011
Watching a movie in a cinema theatre may become costlier now. As per the latest circular issued by the Central Board of Excise & Customs, the arrangements when the distributor and the exhibitor enter into revenue sharing agreement are also liable to Service Tax.
According to the circular issued on 13th December, 2011, transactions involving revenue-sharing arrangement b...

7th December, 2011
The Indian Central Excise and Customs Tariffs are set to undergo some major changes. Changes are being made to align Indian Customs and Central Excise Tariff Schedules with HSN amendments as approved by the World Customs Organization.
The amendments are being made as per Sections 60(a)(ii) and 73(a)(ii) of Finance Act, 2011. These provisions come into effect from 1st of ...